Quintessential Questions

Priest Defends Words of Wright and Farrakhan

The following states points which are not directly in contrary to comments of Mr. Abarmard and Mr. Kaveh Nuraee and Mr./Mrs./Miss > Q <. for a even more objective and fruitfull discussion please acknowledge the aditive material:
Penn. Jews hail Obama's Israel stance

Barack Obama and former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.
US Dem. candidate Barack Obama has received appraisal from Jewish leaders for condemning sermons by former Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

Jeremiah Wright Jr. is a former pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, whose controversial remarks about race and Israel have been severely criticized by the media.

Obama addressed the matter in a high-profile speech last month in Philadelphia specifically repudiating his pastor's remarks.

Obama said, "While Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States."

According to the New York Times, 70 Jewish leaders in Pennsylvania wrote a letter commending Obama for his pro-Israel views.

Part of the letter read, "While we are profoundly disturbed by the unpatriotic, bigoted and anti-Semitic comments of the retired pastor of Senator Obama's church, we are moved that Barack stood up ... and condemned in unequivocal terms the statements of Reverend Wright and expressed his own views on issues near and dear to the heart and soul of the Jewish community."

Josh Shapiro, the deputy speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and one of the letter's authors, told the Times that it's time to 'as Jews, stand up and say how much we admire Senator Obama for condemning the words of his pastor and making sure he is Israel's ally in the Middle East.'

Wright is a symptom of a bigger problem

While I agree wholeheartedly that these issues need to be addressed, people like Wright do nothing to bring all sides together. In fact, he polarizes the matter even further.

It is absolutely true, blacks have been treated with injustice, inequality, bigotry and hatred. No one can deny this, and anyone who tries to either obscure or worse yet, justify it, is plain wrong.

However, we cannot forget those who have overcome these social obstacles to realize varying levels of success. I think it is agreed that these people have endured just as much and perhaps even more in the way of overt bigotry and discrimination, for they dared to stand up for themselves. They have not used their race or ethnicity as an excuse not to aspire or to have ambition and act upon it as so many others have.

They have not forgotten what they have gone through, of that we can be sure. But we can also be sure that they do live like the rest fo us and in some cases, better. I'm not referring to anyone in either professional sports or the hip-hop subculture. I'm referring to those who lead mainstream lives.

It is people like these, who for the sake of this particular discussion, happen to be black, that I hold in high regard and for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, for they have proven themselves to be better, rather than bitter.

Wright and people like him have used their pulpits to incite and inflame animosity, but I have yet to see him or anyone like him actually promote true self-empowerment and self-improvement, as well as personal accountability and responsibility. The last two who did, Dr. King and Malcolm X, sadly, met violent deaths; in Malcolm's case, it was at the hands of other blacks.

I don't disagree with Dr. Wright

America needs to address these kind of issues based on education and unbias arguments. Dr. Wright is a true patriot. Although there are some little things here and there that I don't agree with, but generally he is not saying anything wrong.

He never preaches to grab a gun and go revenge against whites or whoever. And that's alright. Blacks in America have gone through hell and that's a reality, some want to make that a sin: to criticize the historical injustice?

Go convince the entire community that they should forget what they have gone through and begin to live like the rest of us! It is not that easy.